All commercial pilots should be armed and there should be no access to the cockpit from the passenger compartment.
However, I remember a famous quote from Archie Bunker that went something like" They should pass out guns at the beginning of the flight so that everyone is armed".
It doesn't sound so stupid now.
Well Sara Brady, how safe were the people on those gun free planes?
I work with pilots every day. I have been working on flight simulators and with pilots in some fashion for over 20 years. I know pilots. They are no different from any other segment of the population. There are some I would trust with a gun, others I wouldn't trust with nail clippers.
Pilots are not special people. Maybe fighter pilots, to some extent, but airline pilots are just doing a job to pay their bills. It's not a hard job, anyone with decent hand to eye coordination can do it. Most of the job is boring and repetitious. I would be willing to bet if it was put to a vote, they would overwhelmingly vote down the idea that they should be armed and have the responsibility to protect themselves and the passengers.
I really don't get the opposition to allowing CCW on planes. With the statistically miniscule number of CCW holders who break the law, CCW holders as a group are the most trustworthy and law abiding people in the country. These people as a whole are the ones I would trust with guns on board a plane more than even the pilots or flight attendants.
If necessary, some type of ammo could be mandated to minimize the possiblity of a rapid decompression at altitude. At the altitude the airplanes today were flying, a hole from a bullet would not have done any damage to speak of. It is only really dangerous if the plane is pressurized and flying at altitude.